Back catalogue: Broken Beat/Nu Jazz/Nu Soul

Review: Back ion 2021, the relaunched Foliage Records imprint offered up a killer mix from NYC house legends Mood II Swing, the must-check Deep Rooted. Soon, the revitalised label will release a sequel, with long-serving British deep house don Atjazz at the helm. This sampler EP boasts six of the highlights from that set - all remixed and reworked by Atjazz himself. There's much to enjoy throughout, from the tense, slowly building deep-tech shuffle of Halo''s 'Glorty (Atjazz Galaxy Art Remix)'and the sun-splashed 6am bounce of Atjazz's remix of Dominique Fils-Aime's gorgeous 'Sun Rise', to the dreamy dancefloor wooziness of Ralf GUM's 'AWA' (re-imagined by Atjazz as an Osunlade-esque spiritual house workout) and the jazzy, bass-guitar-propelled broken house excellence of 'On The Road (Vocal Mix)', a three-way collab between Atjazz, Kelli Sae and The Realm.

Review: Japanese talent DJ Koco aka Shimokita is a hardcore 45rpm devotee. They are his chosen tools as a beat-juggling DJ who can do logic-defying things with his grooves. He is a regal on Bloom and already dropped serious heat in January with 'World Famous'. This time he is back with a fresh take on 'Made In New York' which is a 1985 classic by renowned Brazilian funk and jazz pianist Tania Maria. He brings his signature hip-hop flair and creativity with his trusted crew, 45trio, and enlists the dynamic saxophonist King TJ (DA-Dee-MiX) to elevate things further.

Review: London-based beat smith K15 is a UK answer to the likes of Kyle Hall - his house music is steeped in jazz, soul and funk. His drums are dusty and loose - and louche - and his moods are deeply meaningful. His latest EP is another case in point with three more sublime and seductive sounds. 'Still Devoted' is a downtempo cut with analogue drums and gorgeous female vocals soaring up top with the elegance of a church choir. 'State Of Play' has a fantastically cosmic outlook and a nimble bassline that rides its own ride as the synths soar and 'Time Reveals' then closes down with a more melancholic but no less beautiful vibe.

Review: Karen Nyame KG, aka the "Goddess of Rhythm," presents her new EP here and it's another one designed for big things. The title track, 'The Remedy,' is a classic soulful house sounds with great bounce and glossy jazz infusions that are perfect for the last days of summer in the UK. Meanwhile, also included is 'Ritual', which is a stark contrast featuring nods to her Afro-electronic roots. It boasts a powerful low end, seductive horns, an earth-shaking bass line as well as a rhythmic groove that makes it a standout club weaponon the newly established London label One Level.

Review: KAU return just one year after their debut on Sdban Ultra, and they're not slowing down. Their latest double single release is another energetic showcase of the trio's tight band dynamics, with intricate synthesiser arrangements, rapid drum patterns and deep basslines that capture the raw energy of their live performances. The first track, 'Kaugummi', fuses a dub bassline with complex drumming, resulting in a groove that feels both fresh and familiar. On the flip side, 'Mad Kau'-a reimagining of 2022's 'Mad Max'-stays true to the live version, bursting with frenetic arpeggios and synths. Both tracks push forward into the vibrant space where jazztronica meets jam band sensibilities, with nods to British jazz and that unmistakable 'Brussels sound'. This double A-side, set to drop on limited 7" vinyl in September 2024, is a must-have for fans who crave the trio's signature fusion of live energy and studio precision

Review: A Delusional Guide for the Disillusioned is an all new collaboration between Kemastry and Jazz T that takes in five seriously heavyweight cuts that skirt around the edges of hip-hop. The beats have a futuristic and otherworldy quality with sinewy synths and twinkling celestial pads as the well-articulated and menacing bars are delivered with precision and an absorbing narrative. Some fine guest features from Ramson Badbonez and Roughneck Jihad add extra character to the beats and the artwork to this vinyl pressing, and the flipside full of instrumentals, is the icing on the cake.

Review: Fashioned around the concept of a Swiss zoo, Kind & Kinky Zoo are the animistic four-piece coming-together of Olivier Bill (flute), Adrien Knecht (bass), Marc Siegenthaler (keys) and Sylvain Rutti (drums). Together they routinely invoke a wild and spirited jamboree in the veins of funk, groove and rock, best exemplified by their latest single 'Pamukkale' here, a bustling thicket of offbeat stinkplant wafts, big drum canopies and hitherto undiscovered species of sound. The two new follow-ups on this Soul Garden edition, a remix by Soulsupreme and a new original featuring Koperu, plunge us further into the band's audio jungle, expanding outwards into six-eighting funk-hop and Hammond-organic house.

Review: Shanghai-based producer Knopha lands on Mule Musiq after picking up plaudits for his Nothing Nil EP on Eating Music. What he turns out here is some beautiful stuff inspired by Oriental New Age. 'Water Play' imperfectly blissed out and liquid ambient house and dub fused into something soul-soothing. Kuniyuki turns out a magical remix that has shimmering melodies and organic drum sounds washing over you then 'Palm Warmth' is all glistening melodies, celestial pads and delicate hang drum patterns that suspend you amongst the clouds. 'Prairie' shuts down with bubbly broken beats and warped leads peppered with soft shakes and more heavenly harmonies.

Review: Mood Hut's semi-regular forays into ambient-adjacent territory are always worth checking, largely for their preference for hallucinatory sounds, new age melodies and loved-up textures over academic concepts and po-faced experimentalism. Their latest chill-out room friendly missive, which comes courtesy of Chinese producer Knopha, embraces this approach while also offering nods to his own off-kilter dancefloor productions. So, opener 'Fizz', a languid, post-club shuffler, is followed by the jazz-flecked, opiate ambient soul of 'The Light', and the sun-bright joy of 'Mizu Le Gout', where loose-limbed breakbeats, star-burst melodies and cut-up vocal snippets catch the ear. Arguably best of all, though, is the EP-closing 'Corundrum', where Mediterranean guitar sounds and echoing electronic motifs cluster around a UK garage-influenced ambient house groove.

Review: 'Get The Message' is London jazz collective Kokoroko's latest EP, and is set to follow fresh on the heels of their pre-release new single 'Three Piece Suit', featuring Azekel. The latter track is a heartwarming tribute to the Nigerian immigrant experience; an initial draft began life at Kokoroko's studio under the working title 'Get The Message', which led to an interesting dialogue between one-off single and wider EP; 'Three Piece Suit' was recorded first, but appears last on the EP, which overall mounts and rides a trotting broken jazz advance. Lilting vocals, brassed-backed chorus harmonies and chop-chop drumming all mirror the quiet confidence with which band member Onome Edgeworth's grandfather first touched down and made his way in Balham, London in the early 1960s. An intentional vessel for joy, coming heavily filled with themes of community, connection and relationships both romantic and platonic.

Review: Kool Keith's album Keith's Salon was a big hit when it came out back in 2001. It was produced by the talented electronic mainstay Bruno Pronsato and now it has been remixed with just as much elan by a stellar team assembled by French label Logistic. First to reimagine Kool Keith's hip-hop hit 'Wiggle' is the masterful micro-house don Losoul who keeps it deft and abstract. Ben Nevile then brings crunchy texture and slow motion beats to his version. Last of all, Flabbergast (aka Vincent Lemieux and Guillaume Coutu Dumont) keep things elegant with lovely hits riding a skeletal rhythm and with shuffling pads down low.

Review: Kozmik Funk is also known by aliases such as QUADRANT 77 and Synthman, but when they're donning this cap they tap into organic grooves with a space age slant that are a true gift to interstellar spinners. Following a prior volume of similarly astral jams, they return to NYC Records with a fresh trio of drum-focused rollers that keep the beats front and centre and weave subtle threads of synth around them for a heads-down experience that will delight DJs and dancers alike. Our pick is 'Percussion Invasion', which works wonders with pattering bongos and congas, and tickles the ears with artful flecks of boogie lead lines.

Review: Kabala Records label head Manuel Kabala is back on his own imprint with a new record that leads you into intriguing alternative dimensions. It follows on from his well-received debut Polaris as he further explores spirit, mind, jazz, blues, frenzied rhythm and electric invention. Some tracks are airy and shuffling broken beat pieces like 'Dancing In The Morning' with its lush cosmic chords, others are late night and zoned out cuts like 'Japanese Subway' and the likes of 'Colorful Samba' does just what it says in the title. An expansive, expressive record from an artist who has really found his voice.

Review: XL Recordings presents the long-awaited repress of keiyaA's 2020 album Forever, Ya Girl. The singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist was raised in Chicago's South Side; now based in New York, her jazz training, R&B sensibilities, and hip-hop inheritability are all deployed to full effect, crafting an experimental soul sound inundated with powerfully sultry voice and dense lyricism. Aiming to to foreground the standpoint and intellect of the black woman in the late-stage capitalist landscape, Forever, Ya Girl brings a sawn-off, digital neo-soul inflection to themes of struggle and grace, all while deploying many a quirky interjection and voice-modded sample between the beats.

Review: London might be seen as one of the hottest places for new, urban jazz sounds, but this album Second Light from Kepler Is Free shows that Greece also has its own vibrant scene. Their debut album was a quickly sold out success and now the jazz rock ensemble is back with more expansive work that traverses the 60s, 70s, soul jazz, hip hop and experimental in all new ways. The band was founded in 2018 and though all members are relatively young, they show their maturity here with more widescreen and entrancing sounds that come in collaboration with LEX, one of Greece's best-known rappers.

Review: Kid Sundance was last on our favourite Munich-based breakbeat label Ilian Tape in 2022 when he dropped the superb Tien Seconden record. Now he returns and once again the SP1200 is at the heart of what he does on this entry into the Ilian Beat Tape series. It's a magnificent selection of 13 tracks that are variously lo-fi and frazzled, super soulful and stoned, and blissed out and jazzy. Each one hooks you in for different reasons and the whole thing makes for a nice listen overall as well as offering up plenty of heat for hard-working DJs who like whipping through short but sweet joints.

Review: Over a year since the release of their exhilarating debut album Could We Be More, Kokoroko present a new collection of remixes of tracks from their debut album. The record brings together a dizzying, globe-spanning array of contemporary music's most forward-thinking artists including Dreamcastmoe, anaiis, KeiyaA, Eun, Demae, Hagan, Ash Lauryn, Stefan Ringer, Miles James, and Vanyfox. A beguiling slice of contemporary jazzdance lent a fresh modern glitzing twist, mixing old friends and fresh faces alike, while not failing to demonstrate the enduring talents of Kokoroko in equal measure.